A Special Find: Saladini Knives

Saladini knives were an accidental discovery for us – a happy case of being in the right place at the right time!

Ihsan and Valerie, owners of Formaggio Kitchen, were on a trip in Italy to find new cheeses. One night, they happened to be staying in Verona and ended up going to the restaurant 12 Apostoli. Ihsan decided to order a steak. Before the steak arrived, the waitstaff provided everybody at the table with the cutlery necessary to eat their main course. Ihsan was presented with a stunningly beautiful steak knife: it was stainless steel and the handle was made out of horn. This was our first introduction to Saladini knives.

When he saw the knife he had been given, Ihsan asked if he might speak with the restaurant owner. The owner came over to the table and, when asked where the knife was from, he made Ihsan a deal. He would tell him who made the knife if Ihsan promised not to steal his cutlery! Apparently, the restaurant owner had started with 200 knives and was down to only 50 because patrons kept walking off with them!

Ever since that trip, we have imported Saladini knives directly from Italy. Coltelleria Saladini is based in Scarperia, just north of Florence. It is an ancient, medieval village that was built by the Florentine Republic in the 14th century. Known as “the town of knives,” it has a long tradition of fine knife-making, dating back to the time that the town was settled. Saladini uses only the highest quality stainless steel and pairs it with all-natural materials such as ox horn, water buffalo horn and Tuscan olive wood to make the handles. We place orders for their knives at least three times per year and stock several different sizes and models including a variety of folding knives and a special selection of cheese knives. We are always happy to accommodate special requests from customers.

I am interested in a set of saladine steak knives. Do you stock these and if so, how much is a set of 4 or 6 Thanks Ed Cobleigh

http://www.formaggiokitchen.com formaggiokitchen

Ed – We keep a limited stock of these knives in the shop. Right now we have a set of 6 pointed knives in the buffalo horn handle. Feel free to call Tim at the shop for more details or send an email to tim@formaggiokitchen.com.

Gail C

I am interested in a mezzaluna knife with wood handle. Can you still get these?

http://www.formaggiokitchen.com formaggiokitchen

Hi Gail,

We have a shipment coming in next week that includes the olive wood mezzaluna. We will update the website to have the latest inventory following the delivery. If you’d like, you can navigate to that product page and click to be notified when it is back in stock and you will get an email when it arrives.